Announcing the Australian VR Artist Residency Program

Traditional media meets VR

Start VR has launched the Australian VR Artist Residency Program, which will see us invite two leading practitioners from traditional screen media and creative industries into our studio to collaborate on new, interactive cinematic VR projects.

We’re thrilled to announce the first VR Artist Resident is writer, director and producer Ryan Griffen. Inspired by 1950s cinema, genre films of the 1980s, and a passion for fusing modern Australian storytelling with classic Genre themes, Ryan’s work spans short film, feature film and television.

More recently, Ryan has continued his partnership with Goalpost Pictures to deliver the second season of Cleverman, the acclaimed, high concept Genre series that follows two estranged Indigenous brothers struggling to co-exist with non-human creatures living among them.

The Australian VR Artist Residency Program is funded with assistance from the Screen Australia Enterprise Ideas Program. The Australian VR Artist Residency Program is an innovative program which gives our company a chance to introduce new creativity and perspectives from more traditional media into the VR platform.

It is also an opportunity to collaborate with local talent to create Australian VR that competes on the world stage while simultaneously building a stronger VR community in Australia – the opportunities are limitless.

MORE ORIGINAL PROJECTS

]]>https://startvr.co/announcing-the-australian-vr-artist-residency-program/feed/0Why Location Based Entertainment is the Future of VRhttps://startvr.co/location-based-entertainment/
https://startvr.co/location-based-entertainment/#respondTue, 20 Feb 2018 01:18:09 +0000http://startvr.co/?p=5827LBE is changing the face of VR: making experiences bigger, more immersive and more social than ever before.

Why Location Based Entertainment is the Future of VR

Location Based Entertainment (LBE) is the talk of the town, from big-budget immersive experiences such as Ghostbusters: Dimension, to game-changing arcade experiences like Mario Kart VR.These experiences physically locate the players in a custom-built room, equipped with high-end VR devices that are either installed locally or worn as a backpack. LBE is lauded as the future of Virtual Reality: so when Start VR co-founders, Nathan Anderson and Martin Taylor, headed to LA, we were excited to sit down with them and hear all about their experiences with the newest developments in VR.

“LBE experiences use props, wind and heat to help you connect what you’re seeing in virtual space to the real world.”

Hey guys, thanks for taking the time to talk about your time in LA. Let’s get straight into it – what was your main takeaway from your experiences with Location Based Entertainment in LA?

NATHAN: I think the LBE market is finally evolving. It’s been talked about for maybe six months or so, but prior to now all we’ve really seen is IMAX VR, which is not a significant improvement on what you could be doing at home. It’s a nice setup, they’ve got great stuff in there. But I think what we saw last week is the promise of what LBE can really be for VR. It’s different from any home user experience: it’s something that’s really social, something that has low barrier to entry for audiences – it doesn’t really require you to know anything about VR or how to play games.

MARTIN: We’ve heard a lot about Location Based Entertainment, so we decided to get out there and try it for ourselves so we’d know exactly what we’re talking about.

What about LBE is revolutionary for VR?

MARTIN: You can do the kind of things you really want to do in VR in these experiences. It’s a free roam experience, you can see your body to varying degrees, you can go in it with another person, there’s 4D tactile elements to it, so you’re doing things.

“You have a haptic feedback vest,

so you can get shot – and it’s incredible,

it makes you squeal.”

With roomscale – and that’s the best version we’ve seen so far – you’re still in a pen, you’ve got to kind of design everything to fit within the limitations of what that offers. But with this, it’s unexpected and it’s surprising. As a VR maker, I felt two things: there was me, the 10 year old boy, that’s wanted this since I was a kid and was really excited, and then there’s the other part – the content maker, but that’s a whole other thing.

So really consumer-friendly VR.

NATHAN: Yes! And that’s the thing that’s different as well. You look at who you would’ve sent to IMAX, or existing LBEs, it was very much a hobbyist or enthusiast kind of thing. But the stuff that we tried last week, you’d be quite happy putting mum into. LBE is very accessible, it’s easy to experience. It was completing catering to non-techies. I think that anyone I know would get some fun and some value out of it.

What we also saw last week with the new experiences is that the physical world is part of the experience now. Previously it was completely virtual, such as in an HTC Vive where you would just have a 3x3m space. But almost all the new experiences we’ve tried have props in them, you can connect what you’re seeing in virtual space to the real world. There’s even things like railings, doorways, handles you can feel.

So getting to specifics, you guys were just in LA promoting Awake, but managed to squeeze in two LBE experiences: Secrets of the Empire and Alien Zoo. Can you give us a rundown?

NATHAN: So in Alien Zoo, six people at a time will go into the Alien Zoo. They have an onboarding section where you put your computer backpack on, and the reflectors for your hands and feet. There’s a curtain in front of you, but you can’t see the rest of the space. As soon as you have your VR headset on they remove the curtain and you walk through. Alien Zoo runs for about 15 minutes and you’re with five other people you can see, based on avatars you’ve chosen.

MARTIN: It’s just like touring a zoo, but it’s impossible creatures in an impossible place. There’s a point where one of the dinosaurs reaches over the railing, and you reach over and there’s actually something to touch when you reach out. It’s very powerful.

NATHAN: I remember I saw you touch it, and as soon as you reached out – we’re so used to no feedback in VR, so as soon as you touched it I saw you pull your hand back.

MARTIN: You’re used to dealing with thin air.

NATHAN: So I think for first-time VR users it would be a lot more engaging and compelling than you’d get from a traditional VR experience. I think the other thing we noticed with new VR, not just LBE, is that it’s very social. In both Star Wars and Alien Zoo, you’re actually there with other people. A key part to you going through the storylines, but also to your enjoyment, is going through the experience with other people. You can see them, talk to them.

MARTIN: In Secrets of the Empire you couldn’t see your body, but you could still see the other people. The thing about The Void is that their equipment is incredibly polished. They’ve got a kit room that feels like an aircraft hanger, visors you can pull up and put down. It’s a very different kind of action experience, you’re shuffling through corridors and being chased by Storm Troopers. You also have a haptic feedback vest, so you can get shot – and it’s incredible, it makes you squeal.You also don’t get given the gun on the way in, you go into this room and there’s this moment where you’re like “Can I grab this?” and you can! That’s the biggest thing, I found myself doing this a few times, saying “Can I do that?” and you can, and it’s really satisfying.

There’s a lot of hype around LBE as the “future of VR”, is that where you see VR going?

MARTIN: It’s certainly the near future. It’s going to be, in be the next couple of years, the big way to access some of the experiences that you really want in VR. I can imagine it will just get better and better.

NATHAN: We had been thinking that Location Based Entertainment as just another window for the content that we create, but there will be specific types of experiences that you make for LBE. It’s not just another distribution for content we’re developing.

With millions of dollars in investment raised, Location Based Entertainment is fast becoming one of the most accessible, social and financially-viable forms of VR. While most experiences are currently in the United States and Japan, we’re excited to see LBE experiences land in Australia in 2018.

As for Martin and Nathan, their next project, Awake, is due to premiere at SXSW on March 13.

MORE ORIGINAL PROJECTS

]]>https://startvr.co/location-based-entertainment/feed/0Awake VR Official Selection at SXSW Film Festivalhttps://startvr.co/awake-vr-sxsw/
https://startvr.co/awake-vr-sxsw/#respondTue, 06 Feb 2018 23:00:17 +0000http://startvr.co/?p=5589We’re excited to announce that our latest original project Awake VR will premiere at SXSW in March this year.

Awake VR receives Official Selection at SXSW Film Festival

Start VR will premiere their original project Awake at this year’s South by Southwest. This interactive cinematic VR experience demonstrates Start VR’s fusion of Hollywood cinema with emerging virtual reality technologies, to create interactive cinematic experiences for traditional movie audiences.

The idea behind Awake was developed by Start VR Chief Content Officer, Martin Taylor, over several years. It is the character-driven, volumetric VR narrative that captures audiences in a truly emotionally transformative way.

Created with financial partners Screen Australia and HTC Vive, Awake is a thought-provoking and character-driven series that takes audiences on a journey through space, time and existence. This unique cinematic story was co-produced by animation and VFX studio Animal Logic, and features creative collaboration with Microsoft Mixed Reality Capture Studios, Mike Jones and Christian Cantamessa.

Awake will be shown at South by Southwest’s Virtual Cinema: a custom-built space for showcasing the best of Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality. Slated for public release late March, Awake will be available for the HTC VIVE and Microsoft’s Mixed Reality headset, with other headsets to be announced.

Start VR is thrilled to welcome to the team Mark Schramm. An award-winning VR, NUI and software developer, Mark is eager to create new immersive, interactive VR experiences with the Start VR team.

For the past five years, Mark has worked as an independent VR & AR developer, releasing several incredible projects across the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Gear VR and Windows Mixed Reality headsets. These include Gravity Lab and Nighttime Terror (pictured).

Mark, with our Co-founder and CEO, Kain Tietzel, organises the Sydney VR Meetup Group, a local collective of VR hobbyists, developers, entrepreuners, and investors. Together, Mark and Kain host these events to discuss and showcase new VR technologies.

It was this early foundation that led Kain to seek out Mark for the Start VR team.

To say we’re stoked to have him on board is definitely an understatement – Mark is one of the brightest and most innovative VR developer talents in the world right now. We’re incredibly lucky to have him. His deep knowledge and experience is an incredible asset to the whole team.

Kain Tietzel

Co-founder and CEO, Start VR

The excitement is clearly mutual: Mark made the move from Canberra to Sydney to be part of our team. He’ll jump straight into development for our latest original project ‘Awake’: an interactive, cinematic VR film that challenges traditional passive movie-watching. It’s one of the projects that drew him to the Start VR studio.

“I am particularly looking forward to creating a new level of interactive VR experiences,” says Mark, “One of the many StartVR projects I am excited about is the amazing speculative fiction work ‘Awake’.”

You can learn more about the projects Mark is working on, including Awake, on the Start VR projects page.

George P Johnson VR Demo Day

How do you throw a event for one of the world’s leading event activation companies? We’ll show you how we made the GPJ VR Demo Day a cracking success…

That was the challenge we undertook when 60 members of the George P. Johnson Sydney team came to our studio for the biggest demo day in Start VR history. They learnt about the capabilities of VR, including its potential to excite and engage their clients by helping to picture activation spaces more clearly than ever before. In the Gear VR room, the GPJ team experienced life in a women’s prison with Wentworth VR, were transported to destinations around Australia in Qantas VR, and went on a virtual wine tour of Brancott Estate.

We also demoed the incredible immersion of room scale tracking technology with the Mixed Reality, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Playing with size, perspective and scale, the GPJ team saw our 2017 Sculptures by the Sea VR installation from every imaginable angle: whether floating above, or crawling within.

It was a fantastic opportunity to demo some of our best work, and show how VR is changing the way we create, execute and think about marketing and event activation.

The event includes the Australian premiere of Life Of Us. Co-Directed by Chris Milk (the “Godfather of VR” and collaborator with artists incl Kanye West, Arcade Fire and Chemical Brothers) & Aaron Kobiln; the groundbreaking Life of Us is one of the first VR pieces to launch two people into the same virtual space.

There’s also work from major studios including Google Spotlight Stories, Arnaud Colinart’s new experience Kinoscope and Darren Emerson’s latest work Indefinite.

Audience members will be able enjoy viewing VR content on HTC Vives, Occulus Rifts, Google Day Dream and Samsung Gear VR units.

The Evening VR Showcase includes a Q&A featuring some of the leading figures in the Australian VR industry, including Start VR’s Martin Taylor & Kaleidoscope participant Michael Beets.

DATE AND TIME

LOCATION

TICKETS

Tickets for the Evening Showcase are $25. Tickets for the Advanced Preview start at $10 for students. Plus there’s discounts for group bookings – buy three tickets and get the fourth for free. Numbers are limited so book now to avoid missing out.

Official SelEction for vol. II

LIFE OF US

DIR. Aaron Koblin & Chris Milk(USA | 8 Mins | Real-Time Interactive)

Experience a shared VR journey telling the complete story of the evolution of life on Earth. LIFE OF US is one of the first narrative VR experiences to place multiple people inside of a shared virtual space.

OUT OF THE BLUE

Out of the Blue is the inspiring story of the legacy inherited by the children of Cabo Pulmo. Once described by Jacques Cousteau as the Aquarium of the World, years of overfishing killed the reef and pushed its inhabitants to the brink of extinction.

EX\STATIC

DIR. Quba MichalskiUSA | POLAND | 3 Mins | 360 VR Animation

Combining elements of theatrical stage design, light art, installation, and Quba Michalski’s unique vision for VR spaces, this short film is a surreal journey through his thoughts on art, society, culture and technology.

INDEFINITE

DIR. Darren EmersonUK | 14 Mins | Live-Action Documentary

Concealed behind 20ft prison walls, on the hem of cities, thousands of people are being held with no time limit. In this psychological pressure cooker people are desperately trying to prove why they should be allowed to stay in the UK.

JAFRI

DIR. Michael BeetsAustralia | 8 Mins | 360 VR Video

Every Friday afternoon, an African Australian man can be found in the middle of Melbourne’s busiest intersection, standing silently, and challenging the beliefs of each of us passing by. ‘Jafri’ is a VR documentary that explores the man behind these signs.

I, PHILIP

In early 2005, David Hanson, an American robotics, is developing its first android human. Through the memories of the android and those of the author, the film offers an interpretation of Phil’s life..

CRYSTAL VIBES

DIR.Benjamin OutramJapan | 4 Mins | Experimental

Crystal Vibes utilizes the cutting edge of spatial 3D audio and sound visualization that maps sound and light based on the science of the human senses, to push the frontiers of technology-mediated sensory experience in virtual reality.

KINOSCOPE

Kinoscope is a VR experience immersing the spectator into a lively and colorful universe to discover the history of cinema.

MY BROTHER’S KEEPER

DIR. Alex Leader & Connor HairUSA | 11 Mins | 360 VR Video

My Brother’s Keeper is a Civil War-inspired narrative that pushes the boundaries of immersive storytelling while remaining anchored in historical fact.

THROUGH YOU

DIR. Benjamin OutramJapan | 4 Mins | Experimental

Crystal Vibes utilizes the cutting edge of spatial 3D audio and sound visualization that maps sound and light based on the science of the human senses, to push the frontiers of technology-mediated sensory experience in virtual reality.

OUT OF SIGHT

DIR. Sara KolsterThe Netherlands | 5 Mins | Real-Time Interactive

Out of Sight is a drawn Virtual Reality (VR) that takes you to the world of nine-year old Lena and her father.

MINDSHOW

Created by Jonnie Ross, Gil Baron & Mindshow Team

You can watch amazing VR, or you can make your own! Mindshow is a remarkably easy-to-use app that spreads the love and thrill of this exciting medium by enabling you to make virtual reality cartoons with your own body and voice.

CHOCOLATE

DIR. Tyler HurdUSA | 4 Mins | Real-Time Animation

Cats, champagne and joy overflows in Chocolate, a psychedelic VR Music video experience set in a chrome cat-centric world, for the song Chocolate by Giraffage. By acclaimed VR creator Tyler Hurd. Presented by Viacom NEXT.

DEAR ANGELICA

DIR. Saschka UnseldUSA | 14 Mins | Real-Time Animation

Dear Angelica is a journey through the magical and dreamlike ways we remember lost ones and, even though they are gone, what remains of the ones we loved.

TRACES

DIR. Gabriela ArpUSA | 8 Mins | Live Action 360

Traces is a virtual reality film that explores the memories of Willie White, an 88-year old woman living with dementia, as she recounts her time as a young girl living in the fields of Mason, Tennessee.

Email Contact

]]>https://startvr.co/kaleidoscopevr-australia-showcase-vol2-2017/feed/0Start VR and Jungle Partnershiphttps://startvr.co/start-vr-jungle-partnership/
https://startvr.co/start-vr-jungle-partnership/#respondMon, 14 Nov 2016 02:22:31 +0000http://startvr.co/?p=3563Start VR today announced a co-production content partnership with award-winning television and film production company Jungle

Sydney and San Francisco based virtual reality studio Start VR today announced a co-production content partnership with award-winning television and film production company Jungle to create, develop and produce several to-be-announced projects in 2017. The production ventures will entail both companies leveraging their respective strengths-including Start VR’s in-depth knowledge of narrative storytelling using interactive VR technology and Jungle’s exquisite craftsmanship in concept creation. Together, the production partners aim to generate exciting and engaging commercial work and original IP for VR platforms.

The Jungle team has received numerous industry accolades for comedy including the 2014 Best Comedy from Screen Producer Awards, two Best Comedy prizes from the AFI’s, Best Narrative Comedy at AWGIE, and many others. In addition, Jungle’s commercial division has been awarded honours at Cannes Lions, D&AD, Oneshow, Clio and London International Awards (LIA).

Says Jungle EP of Commercials Nick Simkins “We’re incredibly excited to be partnering with one of the leading VR producers in the country. They’re an inspiring company and we’re incredibly impressed by their passion, expertise and drive to be one of the world’s leading VR producers. The level of R&D that they are undertaking is unrivalled in the commercial space in Australia, and we’re thrilled to be able to provide an offering that combines their VR creative and production expertise with our directors and creative vision.”

“They’re an inspiring company and we’re incredibly impressed by their passion, expertise and drive to be one of the world’s leading VR producers.”

~ Nick Simpkins, Jungle

This partnership fuses Start VR’s cutting-edge technology and best of class, high end visuals with Jungle’s talented roster and signature narrative style, as seen on their critically acclaimed series The Moodys, No Activity, Here Come the Habibs and branded work they’ve done for Toyota, Ikea, Coca-Cola and many others. Start VR is one of the leading VR production studios in Australia, harnessing authentic and interactive experiences in the world of VR filmmaking―as seen in their debut virtual reality project, VR NOIR, released on the Oculus Gear VR store. VR NOIR was recognised as an “example of how VR will change television” by Upload VR and is nominated for best “Interactive Production” category at Screen Producers Australia Awards 2016.

Nathan Anderson, Co-founder and Exec Producer at Start VR says, “Jungle is one of the most respected, creative and talented production houses in Australia and we are thrilled to be partnering with them. The VR industry has matured and this partnership represents combining the best teams and talent available. It is collaborations like this that we hope will bring Australian VR to the world.”

Sydney, Australia-based virtual reality studio Start VR today announced its partnership with Nokia Technologies, making the studio one of the first in the Australasia region to showcase the OZO camera – a groundbreaking stereoscopic virtual reality camera for professional content production. The OZO camera debuted in North America in November 2015; this partnership will usher in new productions at Start VR, which will be among the first to benefit from the camera’s capabilities, including spherical and stereoscopic video capture with spatial audio array.

“This camera is nothing short of amazing; beautifully built and really does mark the arrival of true cinematic VR”

“Start VR is a company turning out an impressive slate of VR projects, from interactive films to brand stories to business and educational VR applications,” says Malachi Bierstein, Nokia Technology Head of Sales, Digital Media. “After meeting the company’s highly talented Head of Content Martin Taylor, Start VR became our top choice for a collaborative partnership whereby the studio would champion the OZO camera in the Australasia region. What we are impressed with is Start VR’s cinematic approach to VR and their active work in developing the VR community in Australia and, along with it, the OZO.”

Start VR’s Head of Content, Martin Taylor, included, “This camera is nothing short of amazing; beautifully built and really does mark the arrival of true cinematic VR. We are very excited to put Nokia OZO through its paces in a series of exciting VR projects in the coming months and to demonstrate the camera at our

scheduled conferences and showcase events throughout the year. We cannot wait to share the results.”

“What we are impressed with is Start VR’s cinematic approach to VR and their active work in developing the VR community in Australia and, along with it, the OZO.”

Adds Start VR Co-founder and CEO Kain Tietzel, “We are honoured to be working with Nokia in this way, to be some of the first in Australia to showcase the groundbreaking OZO camera. Our chief storyteller Martin Taylor has been championing OZO as a way to significantly improve the quality and scale of a wide range of VR productions.”

“Start VR invites Australian brands and content creators to partner with us on test shoots over the next few months, designed to explore the advanced capabilities of the new VR camera technology,” Tietzel states.

Using cutting-edge technologies offered by the OZO, Start VR will continue to pave the way in the virtual reality industry by creating compelling and innovative VR experiences. The OZO extricates itself from competitors through its ability to produce VR live streams, which no other virtual reality camera has been able to accomplish. The camera features real-time VR preview, 3D audio support that syncs with 360-degree video capturing, full compatibility with professional workflows and multiple head mounted displays, and the ability to reduce post-production time, complexity and cost

]]>https://startvr.co/nokia-ozo/feed/0IBC 2016, part 2https://startvr.co/ibc-2016-part-2/
https://startvr.co/ibc-2016-part-2/#respondThu, 22 Sep 2016 07:44:25 +0000http://startvr.co/?p=3371*UPDATE* – not announced at IBC, but at the time of writing, GoPro’s Hero5 cameras (as ‘Black’ and ‘Session’ units) have been released and must be included in any discussion re: VR rigs. We’re especially keen to see how the ‘advanced image stabilization’ will play out in multi-camera rigs – not to mention the 2-inch touch-screen […]

]]>*UPDATE* – not announced at IBC, but at the time of writing, GoPro’s Hero5 cameras (as ‘Black’ and ‘Session’ units) have been released and must be included in any discussion re: VR rigs. We’re especially keen to see how the ‘advanced image stabilization’ will play out in multi-camera rigs – not to mention the 2-inch touch-screen display in the new unit. It’s released in Australia on the 2nd of October, RRP $569.95.

IBC 2016, part 2: Virtual Reality Live Streaming – IBC

Live VR streaming:

Exploring the various VR rigs and cameras currently on the market and under development at IBC (see My IBC 2016, part 1), suggests another emerging trend: the growth in the proliferation of real-time VR streaming. The applications and opportunities across all creative genres and VR markets is huge – both from a preview (working on set or location) point of view, and a streamed (for live broadcast and publishing to online channels) point of view.

On-set, live streaming is incredibly relevant, as Directors and crew (and clients) are forced to ‘tuck-away’ beyond the eyes of the camera unit which capturing everything in the 360-degree space. This makes direction especially difficult and changes the dynamic on-set. Live streaming provides a more intuitive way for a Director and DoP (Director of Photography) to interact with the set or location, saving time in takes and ensuring the shot is ‘in the can’ before moving on…

Operationally, it also allows the DIT (Digital Imaging Technician) to play with various tools such as ‘live stitch and sync,’ as well as add basic LUT’s, and indeed play with camera settings on-the-fly; usually using proprietary software, depending on the unit.

Nokia’s OZO Remote and Creator software allows such control over the camera on-set, and with a near-live stitch allows not only a rough-cut export on-set, but also allows the Director to preview shots in an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive head-set, prior to the next set-up. Media can then be published quickly, either to a cloud-based editorial/logging platform for the cutting room or, if desired, direct to social media channels.

OZO is not alone in that – on the lower end, cameras such as the NakedEYE offer similar functionality.

At IBC, it was good to see a demo of TeraDek’s Sphere – a smart 360-degree monitoring and live streaming box that basically sends a video source to a wireless router via Ethernet, which can then connect to iPad Pros via wifi. A proprietary IOS app allows for live stitching and review on iPads, and he functionality in that app seemed especially good.

The applications for live sports and events are very compelling – reference what NextVR are doing in the US in this space – and, while at early stages of development, the tools on display at IBC suggest that this is a market that will grow as live VR streaming tech becomes more prevalent and embedded in shooting work-flows.

The International Broadcast Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam is the annual romp for techies in the global broadcast media market. Unlike CES (The Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas), the focus is exclusively B2B, with companies show-casing media acquisition, management and delivery technology, across all creative genres.

‘Future Zone’ offers a glimpse of people and products working at the bleeding edge of this technology: so it was telling that 2016 saw VR largely move away from this zone and very much into the main exhibition and conference halls. Proof, if any was needed, that VR is here to stay and indeed will become an increasingly powerful tool in the story-teller’s armory.

So, as the much-heralded “Year of VR” enters its final quarter, what tech caught my eye and what trends can we spot? In a 2-part blog series, I will explore the take-a-ways and learnings from a few long days at the RAI in Amsterdam:

IBC 2016, Part 1 – Virtual Reality Rigs and Cameras:

Rigs and cameras:

In short, the product range is growing – and growing quickly.

Old faithful GoPro had virtual reality central to their huge and impressive stand at IBC, with the new Omni VR rig front-and-centre, including the ability to sync (GenLock) the 6 x Hero4’s in the rig; largely removing the need to sync cameras in post. Improvements to direct publishing and stitching in Kolor’s AutoPano tools are also a welcome update.

In terms of the best-of-the rest, the trend is unquestionably towards integrated VR camera units, at all levels – from Nikon’s KeyMission360 and Samsung’s Gear360 (both under a grand – and therefore challengers in the ‘Prosumer’ or ‘VR Hobbyist’ market) to the Nokia OZO (at more like $50-grand). Such units, usually with proprietary syncing and stitching software which go some-way to automating those processes, make life easier in post production, and streamline the shooting process. Resolutions are there, although bit-rates remain frustrating low in compact VR units, especially when compared to 2D (or even stereoscopic) units and sensors, which we’ve become accustom to in the flat, 2D, large-screen world. Likewise, current ‘all-in-one’ VR units don’t support higher dynamic range (HDR) acquisition or other similar smarts.

However, catching the eye especially were VideoStitch’s ORAH, IndieCam’s NakedEye and Sphericam’s, er, Sphericam – the latter two both offering 4K resolutions in a single unit, global shutter systems, 12-bit recording (CinemaDNG RAWs in the case of the NakedEye) and, in case of the Sphericam, up to 60fps. Sphericam were also touting ‘The Beast 360’ – a 6K, 60pfs RAW unit – but as yet details are thin on the ground, let alone a release date. In fact, the Sphericam is at pre-order stage, but not yet available.

Nokia’s OZO was hugely popular, and caused a big stir. Live demos were impressive, and it was fantastic to see the unit mounted on various rigs (I especially liked Impossible Motion’s MANTIS remote control dolly, with a GroPro cage smartly mounted under the OZO unit to allow live monitoring on set or location). Talks on the Nokia stand from Deltatre, a French Sports Media Group, who are working with OZO rigs to cover multiple events this year, both live and packaged content, laboured the point.

Of course, I must declare an interest: StartVR are the first to bring an OZO to Australia on a full-time basis, so we will be putting this high-end unit through its paces in the coming months. It’s a space well worth watching…